Adventure in Malasorte Castle

By Julia E. Clements

An abandoned castle, a valley infested by evil spirits, and a cursed family … an exciting new adventure for the River Hawks!

Twelve-year-old Izzy is excited to be spending the summer holidays with her Italian grandmother. She eagerly listens to spine-tingling tales of the evil spirits that once infested Val De Monio, in awe of the Guardians who did battle with them. But when Gran tells her about a Mazzapeghoul, a wicked demon, still inhabiting Malasorte Castle, Izzy starts to doubt whether her stories are true.

When her new-found Italian friends suggest spending a night in Malasorte Castle to prove it isn't haunted, she jumps at the chance to join them. But things start going bump in the night, and they begin to wonder if the Mazzapeghoul is more than just a local myth. Why did the last members of the family flee the castle in 1932, leaving it empty and desolate?

Can Izzy and her friends solve the puzzle and break the curse on the castle before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pink Quill Books
• Release date: Sep 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386290766

Book preview

Prologue

Malasorte Castle, 1932

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The wind howled loudly around the ancient castle walls and heavy drops of rain splattered against the windowpanes with dull thuds. Anna shuddered and huddled further down under the bed covers, trying to get warm. An icy draught whistled through gaps in the old windows, making them rattle so violently that it sounded as if hundreds of ghosts were trying to get into the room. Somewhere in the castle came a loud crashing sound which made Anna jump. She began to sob in fear.

Anna? Anna, are you all right? A familiar hand pulled back the covers and Anna stared up at her mother’s face.

I-I’m scared, she sobbed.

It’s only a storm, it will pass, her mother soothed, gently stroking her hair. Another crashing noise startled them both.

Mamma? Anna whimpered.

I’ll go and see what’s going on, her mother said. It must be a branch that’s fallen and broken a window. I’ll get Alma to stay with you.

Anna pulled the blanket up to her chin and watched as her mother left the room. She heard muffled voices in the corridor and then Alma appeared.

You’re safe now, the old nursemaid murmured, holding Anna in her arms.

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A bald-headed, wizened old man dressed in rags crouched in a corner of the dining room, eyeing an enormous pile of smashed crockery on the floor in front of him. A huge grin spread over his hideous face as he picked up a broken china cup and clenched it in his knobbly fist. He casually belched and watched, enraptured, as a yellow, foul-smelling cloud spiralled up towards the ceiling.

A streak of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, casting sharp shadows all around the room for a split second. The old man stood up and sprinted across the floor with surprising dexterity, jumped on top of a highly polished dining table and slid all the way along it, scratching its surface with his long, sharp toenails. He came to a stop below an enormous glass chandelier which hung over the table and swung himself up among the crystal droplets, swaying to and fro and cackling evilly.

The creature (for this was no ordinary man but a Mazzapeghoul, a wicked demon) studied the broken cup he held in his hand, then carefully calculated the distance across the room, took aim and threw it with all his strength at the window opposite. The glass shattered into millions of tiny fragments and the room was instantly filled with a deafening roar as the wind and rain poured in through the jagged opening.

Giggling hysterically, the demon leapt through the air to the top of an antique dresser, but his ragged clothes were soaking wet from the rain. Burdened by their weight, he misjudged the gap and slipped as he landed. He hissed angrily and scrabbled frantically, his filthy feet desperately trying to find a foothold. He remained dangling by his black fingernails, his legs pedalling furiously in mid-air, as the dining room door opened.

Lady Malasorte peered cautiously into the dark dining room, her eyes widening as flashes of lightning lit up the damage that had been wreaked, as she thought, by the storm. Long, tattered curtains flapped wildly in front of the broken window, looking like enraged ghosts rebelling angrily against nature’s insolence at disturbing them. She jumped when a hand fell on her shoulder, then relaxed as she realised it was Bernardo, the family’s loyal butler.

I’m sorry to frighten you, madam, he murmured. I heard the noise and came to see what was going on.

Thank goodness you’re here, she replied. A window pane has broken during the storm, look. She moved aside so that Bernardo could see. His face was set in a grim expression as he observed the destruction. Lightning lit up the room once more.

I will close the room and make sure that the damage is sorted in the morn- he began, then stopped abruptly. He stepped into the room and went over to the pile of broken crockery. Madam, he said, pointing.

Lady Malasorte went over to him and gasped. No, it can’t be! She looked nervously around the room. Do you think it could be the...? She was unable to say the word.

The curse, madam?

She shuddered, and wrapped her dressing gown tighter around her. Why tonight, when my husband is away? she said miserably. What are we going to do?

I think I will lock the door as well, Bernardo answered and ushered her out of the room. A shadowy movement caught his eye. There was a sudden retching noise and the room was filled with a sickening stench. Bernardo winced as he hurriedly turned the key in the lock. Go back to bed, madam, I will stand guard, he said firmly.

But the…

Will not leave this room, madam.

After the commotion had died down, everyone tried to get back to sleep. Anna could hear Alma’s breathing from across the room where she slept on a camp bed, and felt reassured. Her eyes grew heavy and the noise of the storm slowly faded away as she fell into a deep sleep.

An hour or so later, she awoke with a start. Outside the storm was still raging, but that wasn’t what had woken her up. She strained her ears, her heart thumping wildly. There it was again – a small, scrabbling noise coming from the fireplace. Anna turned her head towards the sound, afraid to look but just as afraid not to.

There was a dark something over by the chimney breast, moving around in the cold ashes. She gasped as whatever it was suddenly scuttled across the room towards her, and a split second later she felt a heavy weight land on her chest. Two yellow eyes glinted at her in the dark, just centimetres away from her face. Anna stared into them, unable to tear herself away as she fell into a deep trance. Then the creature coughed over her and a foul smell of rotting waste filled her nostrils, breaking the spell. Recoiling in horror, she shoved the creature away, so hard that it fell with a dull thud onto the floor. Anna screamed loudly enough to wake the dead.

The creature lay sprawled where it had fallen, glaring angrily at her, then got up and ran back into the fireplace. As it scrabbled its way up the chimney, a cloud of soot billowed out into the room, covering the floor in a dark layer of dust. Alma rushed over and cuddled Anna as the girl screamed uncontrollably, unable to calm down until she heard her mother’s voice talking gently to her. Finally, as she lay sobbing in her mother’s arms, Lady Malasorte looked at Alma.

"Five hundred years have passed since the curse was placed on my family and any danger we were in is surely over by now. Anna is my only child and I will not lose her to that… thing. We will leave tomorrow morning," she said quietly.

Chapter One

Summer Holidays

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This has got to be the worst journey ever! Izzy thought as she wriggled about, trying to find a comfortable position in Grandma Vera’s tiny Fiat 500. She’d had to travel with her feet resting on top of one of her suitcases that wouldn’t fit in the boot, and now her knees were tucked firmly beneath her chin and her neck was aching after being stuck in the same position for so long. She couldn’t even turn her head to admire the stunning scenery outside, so all she could see was a blur of green out of the corner of her eye.

She blushed as she remembered asking Gran to switch on the air conditioning. With a wide grin on her face, Gran had turned to her and told her to open the window! She had managed to slowly wind down the passenger window with her elbow, but the warm air blowing in did little to cool her down. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back and grimaced. She’d had no idea Italy would be so hot.

When she had seen the car Gran had come to pick her up in at the airport, she’d almost started crying. The 1970 Fiat 500 Lusso was a collector’s item, Gran had told her, and this one was still in perfect condition. Gran’s face had lit up with pride as she told Izzy all about her bambino. Izzy had tried to show some interest but all she saw was a cream-coloured car which hardly looked big enough for Gran, let alone Izzy and her luggage.

Izzy glanced across at her gran, who was so tiny that her head cleared the roof of the car with room to spare. It wasn’t fair, she